(CNN) - The Republican representative from Missouri who landed in the headlines and drew heavy Republican criticism for controversial comments on rape he made in an interview last month launches a new campaign television ad Saturday.

The new spot by Rep. Todd Akin hammers the Democrat he hopes to unseat, Sen. Claire McCaskill, over her support of President Barack Obama's health care law.FULL POST

CNN's GUT CHECK | for September 14, 2012 | 5 p.m.
– n. a pause to assess the state, progress or condition of the political news cycle

BREAKING:SOURCE: TENTATIVE DEAL REACHED IN CHICAGO TEACHER STRIKE… A tentative deal has been reached in the dispute between the Chicago Teachers Union and the city's school board, a source with detailed knowledge of the strike negotiations said Friday. Students could be back in the classroom as soon as Monday, according to the source. – Katherine Wojtecki

CNN's GUT CHECK | for September 14, 2012 | 5 p.m.
– n. a pause to assess the state, progress or condition of the political news cycle

BREAKING:SOURCE: TENTATIVE DEAL REACHED IN CHICAGO TEACHER STRIKE… A tentative deal has been reached in the dispute between the Chicago Teachers Union and the city's school board, a source with detailed knowledge of the strike negotiations said Friday. Students could be back in the classroom as soon as Monday, according to the source. – Katherine Wojtecki

Washington (CNN) - Republicans led by presidential challenger Mitt Romney served up a heaping helping of political red meat on Friday, launching a salvo of attacks on President Barack Obama that called him a liar and a failed leader.

Romney told an interview broadcast on ABC that his biggest concern about the three upcoming presidential debates is that Obama will be untruthful.

Washington (CNN) - One week past the conventions, a flood of polls have been released in crucial battleground states in the race for the White House. And some of them paint a picture that looks more favorable to President Barack Obama than to Republican nominee Mitt Romney.

The polls do have some things in common. They're all of the smaller pool of likely voters and all were conducted after the close of last week's Democratic National Convention in Charlotte, North Carolina.

Rockingham County, Virginia (CNN) – With the bodies of four Americans killed in Libya returning to native soil on Friday, Paul Ryan pivoted back to his routine stump speech at an event in Virginia and avoided the sharp attacks on President Obama's foreign policy that have characterized the Republican campaign in recent days.

Ryan opened the event – a sun-splashed outdoor rally set against the backdrop of the lush rolling hills of the Shenandoah Valley – by asking for a moment of silence for those killed during Tuesday's breach of the U.S. diplomatic mission in Benghazi, Libya.FULL POST

Washington (CNN) - At campaign events these days, Mitt Romney often says that if he is elected president, he will emphasize the role of God in American society and will not “take God out of the public square.”

That kind of rhetoric is a departure from earlier less God-focused versions of the Republican candidate’s stump speech and his early apprehension with discussing his Mormon faith.

(CNN) - Former first lady Laura Bush will host a fund-raiser for the presidential campaign of Mitt Romney at her home next week which will be attended by the candidate's wife, Ann Romney, according to two people familiar with the event.

The women's luncheon will be held on Tuesday, a source familiar with the fund-raiser said.FULL POST